I remember sitting around on piquet on an exercise back in about 2006. 4am and raining. The other guy I knew only slightly, I've forgotten his family name, but his first name was Igor. His brother was in as well, thats why we were on first names.
"Igor", I said, "What was it like doing your National Service in the Russian army?".
He didn't say anything for about three minutes. I wondered if I'd offended him.
Finally he said "In the Russian army... you do a lot of digging." Heavy Russian accent, and spoken with an enormous finality. Can easily recall the moment, even now :D
Yeah, the Russian govt doesn't like to spend money, but their soldiers get very good at field fortification. There's bullying, there's drunkeness. Zero OH&S. Maybe not quite zero, they do teach them how to lift safely, which is more than the Israelis do. (Srsly...). But stuff gets done, steadily and unimaginatively.
I'm sure the Ukrainian army is exactly the same.
Bullying yes there is. In every army though...
And i am not talking about the full metal jacket 😀
100%.
I do think conscript armies have it much worse. No government gives a toss about conscripts - they're literally free as in beer, and if their families had any clout they would have gotten exemptions.
Finns I've spoken to have the least-negative experience of National Service. Theirs is merely useless. They leave knowing how to direct traffic, and how to salute snappily for the patriotic propaganda videos their govt makes. Waste of half a year.
Israelis I've spoken to have the most-negative reports. Airforce as well as Army. Pretty girls get used as sex toys by NCOs and officers, other girls learn cleaning and not much more. Boys learn to keep in step, and individual soldier skills, but no more than the first few weeks in any Western army. The issued equipment is third world, and they're not taught simple things like lifting procedures. No wonder they're doing poorly against people they out-gun thousands to one.
Conscription-based armies suck. I guarantee Ukrainian service in the combat zone is if anything even worse than Russian for exactly this reason.
Military service in Greece is mandatory. I could avoid that by declaring myself as a junkie (by being examined in the hospital if there is heroin in my blood) but i didn't. Mistake. Anyway i was a soldier for one year. Waste of time mainly. All armies suck. Especially conscript ones. So you are right...
The point of European conscription is actually recruitment to the professional military and fostering national solidarity. Not the same as dragging some alcoholic out of prison and throwing him at machine-gun fire.
What do you mean european conscription?
EU peacetime conscription, like military service.
Eu? There is no eu military yet. There is national conscription. And as in society, you can find every kind of person.
What i liked most in the army was when i was in the post of the car fuels during snowtime. No officers there. Only soldiers smoking hashish all day 🤩
My husband had air force service. Mostly cleaning stuff and running telephone cables in the woods and whatnot. And drinking beer. 😂
My sons' friend is serving a volunteer year, right now. Likes it and might sign up for the Bundeswehr, afterward.
Oh that cleaning stuff reminds me my main task. After the army sweeping the floor and eashimg the dishes seems a much easier task 😂
Thread collapsed
Volunteer year is a great program. But forcing people to serve in peacetime is militarily useless, economically wasteful, and serves only political objectives.
No it has its logic. Some otherwise civilians can indeed contribute to a fight.
Yes, but 100% of those are the same ones who would do a volunteer year
No. The whole point is that you have just a few soldiers, so you need mandatory service. For example if we had not Turkyie next to us with 70 million more population thsn us, we wouldn't have that. Same for the israeli occupation forces. Without conscripts they can not guard something more than their barraks. That is all...
I understand the problem, I just don't believe conscription fixes it.
The unpaid and unmotivated do not learn efficiently, and then get completely rekt in war.
But they let the government pretend its doing something, and also function as hostages in any domestic political crisis.
Britain, during the 1930s, had classes at highschool on weapons handling and basic fieldcraft. That would be my preferred model of compulsory service, by far.
Yeah it is that too in a way but think of this: conscripts can cover succesfully positions such as cookers, supplies, transports and of course guarding etc. So they release a significant number of fighting troops from other duties. Not all are fighting. A big number does not fight
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Russia has exhausted its lower-ranking professionals. That's probably why they had to send the national guard there. Increasingly also a conscript army, and they're conscripting from the underclass.
Let's put it in girl terms: the chances that a Ukranian conscript is dateable are higher than by the Russians.
I mean, you remember that I called bullshit on the original rape-orgy propaganda, even though it freaked me out, because it struck me as contrary to the behavior of a European-led professional army. And I turned out to be right. There was, at least, nobody acting on orders or in a systematic manner.
This is different. I find it easy to believe that the people who have been terrorizing Russian dissidents for decades have no problem terrorizing ethnic Ukrainians. That's like pretending to be surprised that the CIA waterboarded someone or the CCP disappeared someone.
Thread collapsed
Okay, bad example, as I would generally prefer the Ukrainian. Dated one. On my radar. 😂
But, like, also theoretically.

Totally objective about this. Completely unbiased.

Thread collapsed
Hahahaha!
I dated an Israeli girl, long time ago. She introduced me to the idea that her govt isn't just in a bad neighbourhood, its also way f--ked up and values its actual citizens about as much as Russia values theirs. Would have kept the relationship longer but her visa was up and she had to go back. Was a good one.
Israeli girls are way less conceited than Jewish-Australian girls.
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
I think rosgvardia in Donbass are people from Doneysk and Lugansk who were fighting with the ukranian nazis since 2014 and were not encapsulated in the russian army after these territories voted to join Russia. I am not completely sure anout this though...
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
Thread collapsed
If I were pressed into duty, I'd prefer the Ukrainian army over the Russian one.
Thread collapsed